Table of Contents
Points of Divergence : World War Two
A collection of events, decisions, policies, and so on which might have changed the course of WWII - not necessarily Axis wins, but maybe prolonged wars, shortened wars, less deadly wars, and so on.
Before the Storm : Alternate 1930s developments
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1939
- The Allies attack Germany when they occupy the Czech lands
- The Allies attack Germany after the latter cancel their non-aggression pact with Poland (April 28th)
- Hitler tries to coerce the Corridor from Poland, helped by Russia, instead of fighting a war over it
- WWII starts later
- Poles manage to stop the Germans before they can take the Polish heartland
- Poles make an attack on East Prussia
- Poles make a thrust against Berlin
- The Allies attack Germany in the west, breaking through the westwall
- Italy joins the war on Germany's side
- The Nomonhan Incident is successful for Japan
- The Nomonhan Incident leads to war between Japan and the Soviet Union
- Finnish-Soviet War goes different - E.g. Finland wins, Stalin overruns all of Finland, Allies send the Finns help, the war extends into the Baltic republics, etc.
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1940
- Operation Sealion PODs - Discussions about POD and plausibility concerns of the infamous plan of Nazi Germany to somehow invade Britain using Rhine river barges.
- Britain manages to occupy the Norwegian harbors before the Germans arrive
- Denmark decides to resist
- German losses at Narvik higher
- German plans for the attack in the west aren't lost, so the old plan is executed instead
- Germans can't take Eben Emael
- Dutch destroy their dams, so Holland becomes an island which the Germans can't take
- French use their tanks in the same way as the Germans, as de Gaulle suggested
- Fights in France are harder, the war takes longer
- Adolf Hitler doesn't slow the army at Dunkirk
- Britain doesn't retreat from Dunkirk
- the enclosed French stay in Dunkirk and use the equipment left for a tough fight
- Germany manages to get Spain to join in the war
- Germany manages to get the Soviet Union to join in the war
- Germany manages to get the Vichy Republic to join in the war
- Mussolini doesn't attack Greece
- Mussolini doesn't attack Egypt
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1941
- In the Battle of Britain, Germany bombs military bases instead of cities
- Germany attempts Sealion
- Hitler lets Mussolini deal alone with the Brits and Greeks
- Yugoslavia stays neutral
- Yugoslavia joins the war on the Axis' side
- Germany loses less paratroopers on Crete
- Hitler decides for a Mediterranean strategy
- Rommel gets more troops, conquers Alexandria or more
- Germany takes Cyprus
- Germany supports Axis sympathizers in Iraq, Iran
- Germany doesn't invade the Soviet Union
- Germany integrates the Slavs fully
- Hitler doesn't postpone the attack six weeks
- Hitler attacks in 1942
- Stalin leaves less troops vulnerable near the border
- Hitler orders to take Leningrad
- Dietl takes Murmansk (or breaks the railroad to Leningrad)
- Hitler doesn't slow the army on the way to Moscow
- Japan doesn't attack Pearl Harbor
- Germany doesn't declare war on the US
- Bulgaria also joins the war against Russia
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1942
- Axis take Malta
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1943
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1944
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1945
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Throughout the War
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Miscellaneous PODs
- Germany doesn't fight its minorities
- The bazooka is developed earlier
- Göring is removed from his post early in the war
- Speer responsible earlier for armament
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Immediate Post-WWII Situation
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World War II in alternate history
World War II is a war in which much of the world's peoples engaged in a bloody struggle for power, land (“Lebensraum”), and ideology (fascism, capitalism, communism). It was also rooted in nationalism based on racism and social darwinism and in dislike of atheism, communism, and differing religions (especially Judaism).
It is generally said to have started in 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, and Britain and France declared war on Germany in turn. But the war of Japan against China, which also plays an important role in wwii, already started in 1937, so did the more aggressive part of the German policy of taking back territory lost in World War I and unification with former territories of Austria-Hungary.
After Germany advanced into France very successfully, Italy joined the war on the German side. The Soviet Union used the opportunity to take land from Finland and to conquer the Baltics and eastern parts of Poland.
The war escalated in 1941, when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Japan attacked the USA, and Germany declared war on the US in the hope of making Japan join the war against the SU.
In a foreseeable match of industrial might and technological advantage, the Allies quickly reduced the Axis powers to piles of rubble, and the war ended in 1945 in Europe, while Japan gave up two months later.
World War 2 is often used in alternate history because of its potential to transform the world as we know. It's also popular because of the appeal of the concept “good vs evil”. However, morality is not a word to be used about a war where Stalin was technically a good guy. A thread full of discussion on the German Third Reich's potential to win can be found here.
Abbreviations: WWII, wwii, WW2, ww2.
Alternate history clichés concerning this period of history
WWI and WWII Must Always Occur - An alternate history cliché.
German Techwank - A notorious alternate history cliché.
See Also
No World Wars Points of Divergence
World War I Points of Divergence
Points of Divergence : Military Technology